Trump administration proposes ways to lower some U.S. drug costs: WSJ

Reuters Staff

1 Min Read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration is proposing ways to curb the cost of prescription drugs for seniors and other Americans, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, acting on repeated pledges by President Donald Trump to tackle rising prices.

FILE PHOTO - Bottles of medications line the shelves at a pharmacy in Portsmouth, Ohio, June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Bryan Woolston

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, who was sworn in last month, plans to include the drug pricing initiatives in Trump’s budget proposal, which will be released on Monday, the Journal reported.

The reforms Azar laid out include making generic drugs free for seniors and introducing a cap on what seniors pay each year for expensive medicines under the government’s Medicare program for the elderly, the report said.

The administration will also propose allowing Medicaid, the government health insurance program for the poor, the ability to exclude some prescription medications from their list of approved drugs in an effort to negotiate lower prices with drugmakers.